How Jace became an Honorary Amazon
by raysweetie
Summary: Jace tells the tale


How Jace became an Honorary Amazon (or: The Feathers Look Pretty Good, Don't You   
  
Think?)   
  
by Susan Owens   
  
Copyright 2002   
  
Rated: PG  
  
Summary: Jace tells how he became an honorary Amazon  
  
Beta Read by Sandy   
  
It had been a long week, but Jace had finally reached his destination. He smiled   
  
at the sleeping girl. "Hey Chiquita, wake up. We're here!"   
  
Arose slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them, yawning softly. She was suddenly   
  
surprised to see lots of people coming out of their wagons. Jace jumped down and   
  
greeted everybody. "Mario, Maria, Ricky! My friends! I've returned! Let there be   
  
dancing!" Arose watched in amazement as everyone started dancing and shouting.   
  
Jace lifted her down from the wagon and twirled her around in the air. "My   
  
friends, I want you to meet my older sister, Arose."   
  
Arose giggled, "Jace, put me down!"   
  
Maria stepped forward, looking first at Arose then back at Jace. "You did say   
  
older sister..."   
  
"I sure did! She's my older sister by five years," Jace said proudly. Arose   
  
smiled in agreement. Maria just shook her head, not believing a single word of   
  
it.   
  
"Jace, come on! Tell us where she came from."   
  
The jolliness left Jace's face as he stared into Maria's eyes. "Maria, as long   
  
as we have known each other, have I ever lied to you or your husband Mario?"   
  
"Well, no! But she's your older sister?!"   
  
Jace placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's a long story, Maria. Someday I'll   
  
tell you. But for now, I'm taking my big sister shopping for new clothes. Ooo, I   
  
can hardly wait!"   
  
Arose looked down at her clothes then at Maria's pretty dress. Jace smiled at   
  
her. "I just have to change, then I'll be right back."   
  
"What's wrong with what you have on?"   
  
Jace patted Arose gently on the back. "Oh no, I need my shopping clothes!" He   
  
then hurried inside a huge tent.   
  
Arose looked at Maria, Mario, and Ricky their son, who was smiling shyly at her.   
  
"His shopping clothes?"   
  
"Oh sweetie, Jace has different clothes for every occasion," laughed Maria.   
  
"I'll just bet!" Arose grumbled, shaking her head.   
  
An hour later, Jace came out of his tent dressed in skintight gold lame pants   
  
with a white ruffled shirt, platform-heeled hip boots, and a big hat with a   
  
flamingo feather in it. "Okay, I'm ready to go!" he called out cheerfully.   
  
Arose stared at him and literally couldn't speak for a few moments. "You wear   
  
that to go shopping with?" she squeaked finally.   
  
"You bet! Oh, I can't wait until we get your shopping clothes. Come on! Come on,   
  
the bargains wait for no man!" Jace yelled back at her as he hurried down the   
  
road.   
  
Arose watched him strutting down the road, shaking her head. "By the gods...   
  
What did I get myself into? I should have stayed with the Amazons!"   
  
Ricky bent down and whispered in her ear, "I'm glad you are here."   
  
Arose looked up at his brown eyes then smiled and ran to catch up with Jace.   
  
Soon they came to the village where the marketplace was bursting with activity.   
  
Jace ran over to a piece of blue silk material at the same time as another woman   
  
did. Jace smiled at her. "Hello! My, but what pretty blue eyes you have. Are you   
  
a goddess?"   
  
The woman giggled at Jace. "Oh my! No, I'm just a woman," she said with a blush.   
  
Jace bent down and kissed the woman's hand. "Please, Goddess, do not fool me. No   
  
mortal could have such beautiful eyes and such soft, perfect hands."   
  
The woman giggled again and Arose rolled her eyes as she listened to how thick   
  
Jace was laying it on. Jace looked at the woman. "Were you thinking about buying   
  
this material?"   
  
"Yes, I was. I think it would make a nice dress."   
  
"I agree that it would, but not for you, Goddess. You are much too perfect for   
  
this. You need something that will show everyone just who you are!"   
  
"Yes, you're right! This material does nothing for me. I must find something   
  
that will. Thank you, young man!"   
  
The woman left to find something else and Jace brought the material. Arose   
  
looked at him, shaking her head slightly. "Wasn't that a little mean, Jace?"   
  
"Why was it mean? I told her she was beautiful and she believed me, and when you   
  
believe you're beautiful, everyone else sees you that way. Take a look," Jace   
  
said as he pointed.   
  
Arose's eyes focused to where Jace pointed. She saw that the woman, who nobody   
  
paid attention to before now was surrounded by men. "See? Works every time. The   
  
woman gets noticed, and I get what I want! Now we need a seamstress to fit you   
  
for a dress."   
  
Arose rolled her eyes but followed Jace as he hurried through the marketplace. A   
  
short while later, Jace stopped in front of a building that had a sign with a   
  
needle on it. "Here we are!" Jace strolled inside with Arose right behind him.   
  
"Yoo hoo! Anyone here?"   
  
A woman stepped from the back room. "I will be with you in a few minutes."   
  
Jace nodded as he looked around. "Oh, she is quite good! I can tell by her work.   
  
I mean, look at this dress, it's so delicious!"   
  
"Delicious? What do you mean by delicious?"   
  
"No it's delightful, fulsome. You can't even see the seams in it!"   
  
"Oh, I see. I 'm not much where it comes to clothes."   
  
"Oh well, that will change soon enough, don't you worry!"   
  
"Jace? Arose? Is that you?" Jace and Arose turned to see Gabrielle coming from   
  
the back room wearing a new outfit. Jace raced over and greeted her with a hug,   
  
followed by Arose also doing the same thing. "It's good to see both of you!"   
  
"Gabrielle, what are you doing here? Is Joxer with you? How long are you   
  
staying?"   
  
Gabrielle laughed. "Whoa Jace, one question at a time! Of course Joxer's here   
  
with me! He brought me here for the shopping. He said it was the best place in   
  
Greece."   
  
"He's got that right! Where is our little brother?" Jace asked eagerly.   
  
"He's over in the tavern waiting for me. I better get over there."   
  
Arose found the perfect excuse to get out of being fitted for a dress. "Wait   
  
Gabrielle! I'll go with you."   
  
"Oh no you don't, young lady! You're being fitted for a dress," Jace said with a   
  
pout.   
  
"Jace, I'm older than you! I can be fitted for a dress later."   
  
Jace sat down and took out his handkerchief. "I just wanted us to spend time   
  
together, but you go ahead and see Joxer. Never mind that my heart is breaking,"   
  
he ended with an audible sniffle and patted his eyes delicately.   
  
Arose looked at Gabrielle, who was trying not to laugh. "We'll catch you guys   
  
later. Little brother here needs some loving."   
  
Jace looked up and smiled at his sister. "You know I'm not buying that! I'll let   
  
her take my measurements and then I'm going to go see Joxer."   
  
"Okay. We'll see you later, Gabrielle!"   
  
A little over an hour later, the seamstress was finished. She told them that she   
  
would have the dress and other outfits ready by the end of the week. Jace paid   
  
her and they left. They walked into the tavern where Gabrielle and Joxer were   
  
waiting. Joxer got up and greeted his brother and sister. "Gabrielle said you   
  
were here! It's so good to see you again!"   
  
"So where are you two staying - and where's Xena and Eve?" Arose asked   
  
curiously.   
  
"We're staying here. We rented a room upstairs. Xena said we, um, needed a   
  
little more time to ourselves," Joxer said with a blush.   
  
Jace looked at Joxer. "You're not staying here! You must come and stay with me."   
  
Joxer turned to Gabrielle. "Uh Jace, we don't want to impose," she said.   
  
"Oh no! You're not imposing. I want you to come and I won't take no for answer!"   
  
Arose placed her hand on Jace's back. "Get a clue, little brother! They want to   
  
be alone..."   
  
Jace blinked. "Oh yeah! Sure. Sorry, didn't mean to impose."   
  
'That's okay, Jace. Hey! Now you can tell us about how you became an honorary   
  
Amazon," Joxer said eagerly as they all sat down at the table.   
  
"You really don't want to hear that story, do you?"   
  
"Yes!" they all said together and Jace laughed.   
  
"All right then, I'll tell it."   
  
"I was on my way to meet my troupe in the next town because I had stayed behind   
  
for a couple of last minute details. I was traveling through Amazon territory   
  
because it was a shortcut when I heard someone fighting. Being a son of a   
  
warlord, I had to stop and see if I could help. An Amazon was being attacked by   
  
a group of men." Jace paused for a moment to take a drink.   
  
"What did you do? I bet you swooped right down and scared them away," said Arose   
  
proudly.   
  
"Yeah, I did scare them away, but not like that. Seeing the Amazon outnumbered,   
  
I took out my sword to help. I stepped into the clearing, sword raised for   
  
battle. The bandits took one look at me and ran."   
  
Joxer looked at him, puzzled. "Why? Were you dressed like Jett?"   
  
"No, I was dressed all in red silk, of course! They screamed nonsense words at   
  
me then ran away. Anyway, I ran over to the Amazon and then I saw why she had   
  
not fought so well. She was going to have a baby at any time. I could tell by   
  
the look of her."   
  
"How did you know, Jace?"   
  
"Gabrielle, when you travel with a close family like I do, you learn things. I   
  
knew the Amazon was going to give birth at any time so I had to hurry."   
  
"You helped to deliver the baby, then."   
  
"No, Joxer. I delivered it. I had that baby in my arms. My, she was so pretty! I   
  
then took mother and daughter back to their village."   
  
"Oh let me guess!" Joxer exclaimed. "The Amazon you saved was the daughter of   
  
the queen!"   
  
Jace smiled at him. "Close, but wrong, Joxer. The Amazon I saved was the queen   
  
herself. As thanks for helping her, I was asked to stay for a week while they   
  
celebrated and made me an honorary Amazon. I even have the headdress they gave   
  
me back in my tent."   
  
"That was a great story, Jace. Thanks for telling us," Gabrielle said warmly.   
  
She turned to her husband and they exchanged glances. She nodded very slightly   
  
and he gave his goofy grin in return. She cleared her throat and said, "Well,   
  
Joxer and I are heading for bed. Goodnight," she said as the group rose to their   
  
feet. They exchanged embraces.   
  
"Goodnight. It was great seeing you again. Now it's time that we head home too.   
  
Arose looks sleepy," Jace said with a soft chuckle.   
  
"I'm not sleepy," Arose replied as she yawned.   
  
"Well, your little brother is, so let's go home."   
  
"Okay. Night Joxer, night Gabrielle."   
  
Goodnight, Arose. Goodnight, Jace."   
  
As Arose and Jace walked back toward the camp, Arose reached up and gave Jace a   
  
kiss on the cheek.   
  
"What was that for?" Jace asked curiously, putting his arm around her shoulders   
  
and squeezing her to him.   
  
Arose smiled as she gazed up into his face. "For just being you."   
  
The End   
  
Continued in "To the Happy Couple"!  
  
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:  
  
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, Jace, and all characters who   
  
have appeared in the series, together with the names, titles and backstory are   
  
the sole copyright property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. No   
  
infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan   
  
fiction. The character of Arose was created by the author for use in this   
  
fiction. This story is copyright © 2002 by Susan Owens and is her sole property   
  
along with the story idea. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any   
  
way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all   
  
disclaimers and copyright notices. 


End file.
